If you take your Bibles and turn
back with me to Romans chapter 3. Romans chapter 3, you're looking
at verses 5 through 8. This evening I'm titling this
message, God's Answer to Man's Objections. God's Answer to Man's
Objections. Now, after the first two chapters,
the apostle had laid out in plain language that no man shall escape
the judgment and justice of God. No man shall escape the justice
and the judgment of God and concerning this justice it has one standard
and that is absolute perfection and God therefore Paul says in
verse 11 of chapter 2, he says, God is no respecter of persons. God is no respecter of persons. Well, at this moment then, from
that point on, began the objections. Well, surely the Greeks were
saying, surely God's going to be lenient to us. We never got
the Law of Moses. He says, no, you got the law
of nature and creation and you didn't obey that law which was
written in your heart. No excuse for you. Well, the
Jews say, well, we understand that. There's no excuse for those
heathens. But us, we're God's chosen people. We're a moral
people, we're a good people, we follow the law as best we
can, surely the love of God for us as Jews will be moved that
standard just a little bit. It's going to give us a little
bit more leeway than He does. No, God is no respecter of persons
because you had the law, the full measure of the law, and
you did not obey it. And so then, Seeing this, that
there's no advantage to being a Jew before the standard of
God's law. Is there? No advantage. And so the first
objection of the Jews is going to be said, well, what's the
point of being a Jew? Look at that in verse 1. What
advantage hath the Jew, or what profit is there of circumcision? Well, he says there's much. Look
at that. Much in every way. Much in every
Now, first of all, physically, there were some benefits to being
a Jew that the Gentiles didn't have. They had the very presence
of God. Isn't that something? God's presence dwelled with them. God led them by a pillar of cloud
by day and a pillar of fire by night. God delivered them from
the greatest army in the world with one fell swoop, delivered
them and killed that whole army in the Red Sea. So is that an
advantage? Tell me, is that not a good advantage
to have? God on your side? God delivering you? But not only
this, they had covenant promises, didn't they? God gave many promises.
Many promises. But chiefly above that, He said
chiefly, look at that, Because to them were committed the Oracles
of God. What does he mean by Oracles of God? He means the
Word of God, but specifically the Gospel. That's what he said
the Word of God was in chapter 1. He said the Scriptures are
concerning the Son of God. So what did they have? They had
the gospel preached to them. Every time that Passover lamb
was killed, the gospel was preached to them. Every time they had
the great day of atonement, the gospel was preached to them.
When the manna fell from heaven, they had the gospel preached
to them. When he delivered Canaan into their hands, they had the
gospel preached to them. Joshua was a type of Christ in
that. They had many, and then not only talk about that, but
the prophecies, and the Psalms, and all of those things it promised
of Christ. So they had an advantage. The Gentiles never heard any
of that stuff. They had an advantage. But, listen,
because it was not mixed with faith, Paul says in Hebrews,
because it was not mixed with faith, what did it do for them?
It didn't do anything. It did not save them. Tonight,
when the gospel is preached, if anybody is listening and does
not believe on Jesus Christ, you have an advantage. Above
everybody else, you hear the gospel. But listen, if it is
not mixed with faith, listen, it's not going to move the judgment
of God. Just because you got that privilege
of hearing the gospel where somebody else didn't, It doesn't matter
when the justice of God comes. If you're not in Christ, you
have no hope. And so, I want you to see this specifically,
and this was, Paul makes this next objection then. He says,
for what if some did not believe? That's true. There were many
Jews that did not believe. Now God promised the Jews a lot
of things. He promised them salvation, He
promised them righteousness? He promised them eternal life? Well, wait a second, if He promised
the Jews eternal life, and some did not believe, and they're
going to be suffering under the justice of God, look what He
says, "...shall their unbelief make the faith of God without
effect." In other words, is God's promises void? You have this Jew, he's sitting
right there, God says, I'm going to save the Jews. And that Jew
hears it and says, oh boy, you're going to save me because I'm
a Jew. And that Jew, he doesn't believe, really, he doesn't believe
it. And he goes off and lives in a life of sin and dies in
his sin, stands before the judgment of God, and God says, condemned. Condemned. Wait a second. You promised you were going to
save the Jews. Is your promise of none effect?
That's the thing. Well, in truth, Israel was nothing
but a type of the church. That's all it was. Just like
the Passover lamb was a type of Christ. Just like the high
priest was a type of Christ. Just like the tabernacle was
a type of Christ. The people for which the high
priest offered the sacrifices was also a type. The covenants
made to that people were only a type. And so when the Lord
sent blessings, when God sent a covenant to Israel, it was
a covenant physical. It was a covenant earthly. And
so when God promised to deliver the Jews, did He not deliver
them from Babylon, from captivity many times? Well, God fulfilled
that promise to them, didn't He? Why? Because it was an earthly
promise. And so all the things that were
promised to Israel, listen, what is true of them in type is even
more so true of spiritual Israel. And what do I mean by spiritual
Israel? Well, that's what Paul said, look at 28 and 29 of the
previous chapter. He tells us who a true Jew is.
A true Jew is not one that's just circumcised outwardly, one
that's not a son of Abraham. He says, for he is not a Jew,
which is one outwardly. Now is that clear? Did anybody
misunderstand that? You see the Jews in Palestine.
Does that make them Jews? He is not a Jew which is one
outwardly. Neither is a circumcision which is outwardly in the flesh,
but he is a Jew which is one, what? Inwardly. With what? The circumcision that is of the
heart. He's talking about the new birth.
He's talking about the resurrection from the dead. And so everyone
who is born again, listen, you are the true Israel of God. This is what we went over Sunday,
is Israel were given many promises. They were the chosen of God,
weren't they? The nation of Israel was chosen
of God. We know that. But how much more? That was only
a temporal choosing, wasn't it? It was. It was only a temporal
choosing. It was an earthly choice, made
after Abraham, after his kin. But true Israel is one that was
chosen of God in an eternal covenant, an eternal covenant, of which
Jesus is the mediator. I like what Paul says in Hebrews
8, verse 6. He says, Jesus obtained a more
excellent ministry than they. High priests. Talk about high
priests. The old high priest, they had a ministry. But our
Lord Jesus Christ, the great high priest, of which they were
only a type, he obtained a better ministry. Why? Because his offering
was better. Their offering, it could never
take away sin. But this man, after he'd offered
one sacrifice for sins, he sat down. You see, his was a better
ministry. Listen, and he says, by how much
also he is a better mediator of a better covenant. So the nation of Israel had a
covenant. But we who are the elect of God, we have a better
covenant. Why? Because theirs was temporal.
Yours is spiritual. Theirs is earthly. Yours is heavenly. So you who are true Israel, Is
there an advantage to being a Jew? There is if you're one inwardly.
Isn't it a great advantage? Now they had an advantage of
Jews nationally, but how much more advantage do we have who
are one spiritually? We are the chosen of God. Israel
was a group of sinners. Isn't that a good type? God's
people are sinners. God promised Israel a deliverer. Is that not true of us? God promised
us Jesus would come of the seed of David. He promised that he
would obtain righteousness, that by his one offering he would
forever Satisfy the justice of God for us. That's the most amazing
thing, is that Jesus Christ, that justice that's immutable,
that wouldn't move based on who you are or what you've done.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, He felt that judgment. When God made
Him to be sin for Him, God was no respecter of His person. God
punished Jesus Christ for the sins of His people. He was made,
listen, He was made to bear our guilt. Now I can't tell you how
that happened. I can't tell you. God don't punish
innocent people. Is that right? Does God punish
innocent people? No, that wouldn't be just. Yet
Christ had no sin, did no sin, thought no sin. The only innocent
person that ever lived And yet God in such a way made him to
bear our sins in his own body that he bore our guilt for them. And the justice of God fell on
him. I'm so thankful for that. It
fell on him. Over there in Isaiah 50, 53,
I wanted to quote it, but I just can't. Scripture says he shall
see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied verse
11. He shall see of the travail of his soul and be Satisfied You know the justice of God is
satisfied for you who are real Jews You are his people God's
justice is completely satisfied with your offering why because
it was Christ's offering And when Christ rose from the dead,
and he sat on the throne of Israel, that's what God promised David,
wasn't it? He said, I'm going to raise up
a king out of your loins, and he's going to sit on your throne
forever. A lot of people thought that
was Solomon. Wait a second, where's Solomon? He dead, isn't he? He's not sitting on a throne.
He's not talking about Solomon or any of the other sons of David. He's talking about Christ. He
said, I'm going to raise up Christ to sit on your throne. Where's
Christ right now? He's seated on the throne. He's
seated on the throne as a mediator for all God's people. And God
promised Israel that every one of them is going to be called,
every elect, person that God has chosen, every elect person
that Christ died for, they all shall be called without exception. Not one shall be missing in heaven. I'm sorry, I just went against,
I just went against 99.9% of all earthly religion just then.
They believe that somehow, that some people are just going to
be missing. God warned them to be there, but you know, They made
a bad choice and they're not going to be there. That's not
what Jesus said. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. Is that clear? We don't get any
miscommunications if we just listen to what he said. Who's
going to come to me? All the Father giveth me shall
come to me. When they come, I'm not going
to cast them out. Why? Because I came from the
heaven to do my Father's will, not my own will, but the will
of Him that sent me. And this is the Father's will,
that of all He hath given me, I should lose nothing. Nothing. What a victorious Savior we worship. And we know this, that all who
believe on Jesus Christ, God promised that Israel should inherit
the land. Now nationally they did. Nationally,
they inherited a land, but we're not looking for an earthly kingdom,
are we? Jesus said, my kingdom is not of this world. If it were
of this world, then when my servants fight, but it's not of this world.
And so believers are promised that if you are the spiritual
Israel of God, you shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. And so then we see that God's
promise, here's the objection, did God's promise fail? We just
see clearly it did not fail. It doesn't matter if some of
those Jews and earthly Jews didn't believe. It didn't matter. Why? Because they weren't of the true
Israel of God. They weren't the true Israel
of God. And so what do we say to anyone who opposes this truth? Let God be true and every man
a liar. I don't debate for a very good reason. I just declare what
God says. And if you want to oppose these
things, have at it. I'm not opposing these things. These are true. Let God be true
in every manner. Everything that God promised
Israel, He'll give it to them. He did temporally. How much more
will He promise spiritual Israel? Let's look at the third objection
here tonight in verse 5. He says, But if our unrighteousness commend
the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous
who taketh vengeance? Now we know the Jews who did
not believe, who were only Israel in type, they did in their unbelief
even. In their unrighteousness, they
did commend the gospel. You got that group of Jews over
in the Old Testament. Every time I read about the Old
Testament Israel, the gospel is preached to me. And in the
end, the glory of God is commended. Even though most of them did
not believe. Even though they didn't believe.
Yet it still preached the gospel to me. He says they preached
the gospel of Jesus Christ by their existence. Now, if God
intended to use these unbelievers to be a picture of true believers,
is God righteous to condemn them? That's the question. The objection is, you've got
a Jew, he's an unbeliever, he doesn't believe, God purposed
him to be a type of the true church, and yet he's an unbeliever,
he's unrighteous, should God then condemn him seeing he did
play his role? Listen, I want you to see that
this objection is not old, it's still present, still happening
today. I want you to see this. The objection
is still made today against the doctrine of God's election and
spiritual Israel. It is an objection of God's sovereign
election of Israel and sovereign rejection of some of Adam's race. Now, please bear with me. I want to try to state the objection. Paul says, I speak as a man.
So I'm going to try to speak in their stead, just like Paul
did. Paul was speaking in the stead of the objector. And so
that's what I'm going to do right now, is speak in the stead of
the objector. Now here's the objection. Well,
if God chose an elect people and only those people, the elect
of God, are going to be saved so that no man has a free will,
then how can God condemn or take vengeance on them that he has
not chosen? Here's another way, if man has
no ability to choose God or reject God, but God has before determined
who would believe under righteousness and who would not believe under
damnation, is God just and right to condemn them to eternal hell? I can't tell you how many times
I've heard this. Would this not make men robots?
I've heard it a thousand times. I've heard it once. This is their
objection. If we are used of God to further
the gospel, either by our hatred of the gospel or by our kindnesses
to the gospel, how then can God be just to condemn us who has
purposed to use us for his glory and the salvation of the elect?
If God purposed to use a wicked man, How then can God be just
to condemn that man after he uses him? The argument is clearly, I think,
more clearly stated later on. Let's go to Romans 9. I was tempted not to go here
because we're going to study this later, but I figure by the
time I get to Romans 9 you'll have done forgot what I've said
today. So I think we can go, be safe to flip there right now
since we're not going to be doing it next week. Romans 9 makes
this same arguments. Again, what we're seeing in these
small verses, we're seeing seed plots of objections that he's
going to answer more fully. This is one of them. In the first
nine verses, he starts talking about who's a real Jew. Just like we've been talking
about in our first objection, what advantage does it have a
Jew? Is God unfaithful? He answers that question. In verse 6, not as though the
word of God had taken on effect. Why? For not all Israel are of
Israel. In other words, he's saying that a Jew is not one
outwardly, but one inwardly. And then he uses the illustration
of Isaac, and especially in verses 10 and 11, Jacob and Esau. Jacob and Esau use these as an
example. And so you have then in this
example, two sons, Isaac and Jacob, both Jacob and Esau, both
sons of Isaac in the same womb, at the same time developing in
the same mother. No difference in that. Yet God
before testified, Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. He said, for in verse 11, for
the children not yet being born, neither having done good or evil,
that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not
of works, but of him that calleth. What is he saying? When was Jacob
chosen and Esau rejected? Jacob was chosen. Esau was rejected
before they were born. What standard did God use? Did
he use any standard of good or evil that they had done? No. The only standard was God's will,
God's purpose, according to election. That's it. The only standard
God uses is his own. But I want you to consider Esau
for a minute in this objection, because that's the one being
touted. How can God condemn Esau, seeing he didn't choose Esau? God hated Esau. There was nothing
that Esau could do about it. So the objection is, how can
God condemn Esau? Now, I want you to consider Esau.
Esau was used of God. God gave him life. God brought
him into the world. And God used him. For who? For Jacob. You consider Esau was a great
hunter. You wonder why that day he was so hungry and didn't catch
anything? Who did that? God did. And so Esau was starving to death
and his brother comes along, I sell you my soup for your birthright. What did he say? That thing's
no good to me if I'm dead. And he sold it. Consider this. I want you to
get this. Esau was used of God to be a
type of the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember that Isaac was only
going to give that blessing to Esau. Isaac was not going to
give that blessing to Jacob. Jacob was not the firstborn,
Jacob did not deserve it, he was a trickster, he was a scoundrel,
and Isaac was not going to give it to him. When he came into that tent,
what was the only way that Isaac was going to give him a blessing? If he was Esau. So what did Jacob do? He put
on that skin of those animals. He put on Esau's robe. He put His scent on him. You and I, like Jacob, we don't
deserve the blessing. We're not the firstborn. Who's
the firstborn? Christ. How in the world do we
receive the blessing? Only if we are in union with
Him. You see, we have to have His
skin. When the Father is going to accept us, he's only going
to accept us in Christ with his robe of righteousness. You see? Esau was a type of Christ. Isn't
that amazing? Isn't that astounding? Oh man, how can God condemn Esau
seeing he used him like that? How in the world? Well, even so, God will condemn Esau. Now, is he just? How is God just
for his election? And how is God just to condemn
those he has reprobated? Well, look at the text. Look
at chapter 9. Paul's going to give you your
objection, because that's what man wants. They want to object.
Here it is, verse 14, what shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? Is that not exactly what they're
saying in the text, that God is unrighteous to do something
like that? Well, is he? God forbid. God forbid. Why? He told you What else do
you need? What else do you need but God
telling you? Here's God's answer to the objections of men. I told
you, I will have mercy on whom I'll have mercy. Well, who is
He going to have mercy on? Whosoever He has mercy on. I'll
have compassion on whom I'll have compassion. The fact He
says I'm going to have mercy should give us hope. The fact
He said He's going to have compassion should give us hope. What's the conclusion? So then,
it is not of him that willeth. Boy, are many religions dead
right there. Salvation is not of him that
willeth. Nor of him that runneth. There's
all types of works religion that believes salvation is somehow
helped or contributed to by our works. Somebody's out there running
right now, trying to please God. Well, it's not of him that runneth. Stop running. Stop running. It's not going to do you any
good. Where does salvation come from?
But of God, which showeth mercy. Well, God is not through with these
objections because now He's going to use another illustration besides
Esau. He's going to use Pharaoh. Look
at this. For the Scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I
might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth. Pharaoh was a man who was raised
up by God to I don't think we quite understand what a king
is. Pharaoh was a king in the greatest sense. If you displeased
him in any way, he could have you killed. No question. I don't like you killing me. That's what we call a despot.
Somebody who has absolute power. God raised this man to absolute
power over the entire world. Egypt ruled at that time the
known world. And God says you have one purpose
in your existence. That I might show my power in
killing you. That's all your purpose is. And that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth. You remember when God told Moses
to go to Pharaoh, what did God say? He said, He will not listen
to you. God knew what Pharaoh would do
before Pharaoh did it. Now, how did God know that? Because
in Exodus chapter 9 and verse 12, it says the Lord hardened
Pharaoh's heart. Pharaoh, it was the Lord that
did it. And so here the objection in
our text, you're saying that, look at this in verse 18, Therefore
he hath mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will
he hardeneth. You got that? Gospel being preached, goes out,
you got a person that receives it, that believes it, that loves
it, that bows down to it, who did that? God. You got another person over here
who hates it, despises it, rejects it, hardens his heart against
it. Who did that? Who does both? God. You see how
absolutely sovereign this is? And yet, the objection, look,
here it is again, man. We meet with this objection again,
verse 19. Thou wilt say unto me, whineth
he yet find fault. Isn't that the objection we just
deal with in our text? It's the same thing over again.
There's a man. He's hardened himself against
Christ. He doesn't believe the gospel. And God hardened his
heart. Now, how can God judge him? Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Got a guy there that God hardens? Could he do anything to soften
his own heart? Could he do anything to resist
the will of God? Nope. So if divine grace is bestowed
on some and withheld from others, and he does. That's just so. If sins of men are under the
control of God to accomplish His purpose, and they are, how then can God blame them whom He has rejected because
of the sin that He purposed they should do? It is here the self-righteous
and free will works salvation people believe they have the
upper hand. This objection, if you've ever
had people come to you with this objection, you'll never find
a more smug people. They're like the Jews. Remember
the Jews brought that woman before the Lord and committed adultery. And they said, the law says we
should kill her. But you know, you're merciful.
What do you think we should do? They knew this, that if he said
stone her, they could say this, aha, he has no mercy. But if
he said let her go, they could say, aha, he doesn't obey the
law. You see, they thought they had it. Never more smug people
in all the world know Jews at that moment. You know, the Lord
answered that. He said, without sin cast the
first stone. And they all kind of just broke
their heads and went away. This is the same thing. This
is the same thing. You'll never find a more smug
people that think they've got you. when they bring this objection
to you, because they'll do it every single time. They perceive the difficulty
of reconciling the sovereignty of God and the responsibility
of man. You can't reconcile it so they
think they've got you. But man's difficulty and ability
to reconcile these two things does not negate the truth of
them. Does it matter that you can't
reconcile these two things? Both are true. If God determines that a man
be damned, And then the man lives a wicked, sinful life. The man
is responsible. And yet God is sovereign. I don't
care if we can't reconcile it. Does it really matter? No. The
difficulty. They see it as a difficulty.
But God has ordained all things and moves all things in time
and providence to fulfill his counsel. Isn't this what he said?
Look at Isaiah 46. Tell me what God says about everything
that happens in time and eternity, right here. What does God say
about this? Look at Isaiah chapter 46 in
verse 9. He says, remember the former
things of old. For I am God and there is none else. I am God
and there is none like me. You get why you can't reconcile
these two things? Because you're not like him. Declaring the end When? When did he declare the end of
all things? From the beginning. This is Isaiah 46, verse 10.
From ancient times the things were not yet done, saying this,
my counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure, calling a
ravenous bird from the east, the man that executed my counsel
from a far country. I have spoken it. I will also
bring it to pass. I have purposed that I will also
do it." He's calling Cyrus. He's going to take a wicked man
that doesn't even know God at all, and I'm going to use him
to deliver my people. Now friends, this was a long
time before Cyrus was even born. Did Cyrus have a choice in this?
Now Cyrus perceived he did. Cyrus might have thought he did.
He didn't. God said, I raised him up for
that one purpose. He's going to deliver my people. What does
this show me? This shows me this, that the
wrath of man shall praise him. And what does he do with the
rest of it? He restrains it. Whatever does not praise His
name and further His gospel of His Son, He restrains. But whatever
does, lets it go. He ordains it. Not only consider that, consider
Judas. Consider Judas. The scripture
had said that my own familiar friend had lifted up his heel
against me. Hundreds of years before Judas came into this world,
ever was, I think more than 700 years had passed since that prophecy. And yet what? Here comes Judas
and he does exactly what the scriptures say he was. He was
the son of perdition. Now let's take all these men
that we've mentioned, Esau, Pharaoh, Cyrus, Judas, pay attention,
they are in hell because of their sin. Though God ordained it, God is
not responsible for your sin. What I mean by that is you cannot
condemn God or convict Him of being the author of sin. He's
not. Let me put it this way. When God hardened Pharaoh's heart,
how did he do that? All he did was simply give to
Pharaoh what he was wanting to do anyway. All he did was release his restraint
on Pharaoh to do whatsoever his heart wanted to do. Why? Because
this is the heart of us all. The heart of us all is to oppose
God. He says the carnal mind is enmity
against God and it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed
can be. So how? You got a man over here and he
is moral. You got a man over here and he
is wicked. Both do not know the Lord. Why
is this man more moral than this one? Restraint. God restrains
this man. That's the only difference. If
God were to relieve his restraint of this man, he'd be just as
vile as this other fellow. That's true of all of us. Believer,
you know this. If God took his hand away from
you, what kind of person would you be? You know this. And so God swears that these
men and their sin, which they committed, We are going to be
condemned. The soul that sinneth, it shall
surely die. So then what simply is the answer
of God to this dilemma? We call it a dilemma, it's not
a dilemma. You know what it is? God forbid. Look what Paul says in Romans
9 here, he says this, Let me get back over there. Romans
9 real quick. I know I'm moving. I got to move.
Here we go. Romans 9. And he says this. And here's
the objection again. Well, I was saying to me then,
why doth he yet find fault for who hath resisted the will? But
nay, O man, who art thou that replies against God? There's
the answer. Men are so smug in their intellect
and pride I think Haldane said they're like a wild ass's colt
just born thinking they know everything. In other words, who are you to
take your God and put him under your judgment? God has chosen
a people, my friends, He has chosen a people. In a covenant
of grace, He gave them to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus
Christ came into the world and He saved them. Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins. And He did exactly
that. He saved His people. And everyone
that is named in that covenant, the Spirit of God will call them. He will save them. Through the
preaching of the gospel is the means by which He'll do it. And
He'll call them, and they can't help but believe. You that believe,
I know this is true of you. You can't help but believe. I
believe, help thou my unbelief. That's constantly our prayer.
I believe. Yes, I do. Oh, help my unbelief. Why? Because this is the power
of God. It's not a will, it's not a choice
that we make like we choose a hamburger or french fries. It's God making
us to will and do after his own good pleasure. Which is what?
To believe. He gives us that faith. If you
still got it, it's because God keeps giving it to you. The glory of this is that everyone
He calls, they're going to make it. How many times do you think,
I just can't make it? I'm just not going to make it.
It's just too much trouble. There's too much strife. There's
too much difficulty. I'm in too much pain. I can't
make it. Oh yes, you will. Why? Because God says, I am your God.
I will help you. That is something to hang on
to. I'll help you. Not that I, when
I got time, I'll help you. No, I'll help you. I'm your God, I am with you. I am your savior. I am he that blotteth out thy
transgressions with a thick cloud. And so what is our response to
such smug men? Who in the world do you think
you are? Putting God under your judgment. Just because you can't
reconcile man's responsibility and God's sovereignty, who are
you to judge? God. Because that's what you're
doing. You're judging God. And he says, who are you? Look
at, look. He said, nail, man, who art thou
that replyest against God? Shall the thing form, saying
to him, why hast thou made me thus? Isn't this what men do?
Well, you made me a sinner. Careful. Hath not the potter power over
the clay of the same lump? Get that? Same lump. No difference. One thing about believers is
to understand we're no different than everybody else. As far as
nature, we're the same. Got those freaks running around
over there, men dressing up in women's clothes. You know what?
You're the same. God take his hand off you. You'll go over
and do the same. It's a sick, our minds are so
corrupt. So corrupt. He took the same
lump and he made a vessel of honor and a vessel of dishonor.
Now what injustice did he do to the vessel of honor or the
vessel of dishonor? It's his lump. He can do with
it as he pleases. What if God, willing to show
his wrath and to make his power known, endure with much longsuffering
the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction? You know what vessels
of wrath are good for? Destruction. All they are here
to do is show the power of God. But I'm thankful for this, that
that he might make known the riches of the glory on the vessels
of mercy, which he hath aforeprepared unto glory, even us, even us,
whom he hath called, not only of the Jews, but also of the
Gentiles." So what are the objections? What
advantage does a Jew have? Well, spiritually, you've got
a lot of advantages. Because all those covenant promises he
made to them earthly are yours spiritually. You're his elect
people. You're sinners saved by the grace
of God. You're kept by the power of God. And so when God made
choice among us, is God unjust in his election
to choose one and despise another? No. No. Who is man to put God under the
microscope of his own judgment? And so I hope that God give us
grace. When these people come to you,
and they will, if you have any witness at all, if you talk to
anybody at all, they're going to start putting this argument
out there that, well, God's not just to do something like that. I wouldn't worship a God like
that. Well, no, you won't. Not until God gives you the grace
to. And if you worship him now, it's because God gave you grace
to. That's grace. It's mercy. And so we say this, God forbid,
God's not going to just do that. Just because I can't reconcile
it, what does it really matter? God's sovereign. Man is responsible. Why? God said so. God said so. I pray God will be gracious to
make this effectual to us and help us and pray God will teach
us from it. Let's stand and be dismissed
in prayer. Father, dismiss us with your
mercies and I pray you teach us by your Holy Spirit, Father,
help us to understand this text and usefulness of it, Father,
as we witness to others of Jesus Christ in our sovereign mercy.
I pray that you'd bless it in Christ's name.